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Will Ingrams returns with another prompt, this time using metaphor.

Another day, another poetry prompt. This is Will Ingrams with another challenge, and this one is about metaphor, which we all use all the time in poetry. Today however, I would like you to think of a comparison which at first glance seems unlikely or unpromising, and then, in your poem, make us realise why the comparison works. The unlikely metaphor is sometimes called a conceit, and perhaps Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 was a bit of a conceit – his love and a summer’s day?

I’ll read you an example of a conceit poem I wrote a couple of years ago, which compares a boy to a bonfire:

A Bonfire Boy

Please, Mister Blunt, don’t take offence,
I was not being rude or cruel.
Your boy is like a bonfire, yes,
that’s what I said, and meant it too,
but Carl is not a heap of twigs,
a mound of old unwanted goods
just waiting for the match.
That’s not my view at all.

I meant Carl has a heart so fierce
it dazzles when it bursts to flame,
I mean he gathers all things in
and kindles them to dancing sparks.
Carl never lets a good thought die
so when you prod him, hours on,
he’ll flare again with brilliancy
till others feel their face and hands
revive in his inspiring glow.
Carl radiates his warmth.

And on this cold October night
when crisp leaves rustle down the path,
wind-swirled and drab with winter’s shade,
a bonfire’s what we love the most.

Will Ingrams

So, think of two things, perhaps one concrete and one abstract, which don’t immediately seem alike, and then use this interesting metaphor in a poem. An acorn and a memory? Embarrassment and breakfast? Maybe not, but be adventurous!

For more NaPoWriMo tips and writing prompts check out the book Poetry Non-Stop.

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